Friends’T he

Friends’Friends’Friends’Registered Charity No. SCO 09009

Autumn/W inter 2008newsnewsnewsnewsnews

The Friends of Aberdeen University Library

We could not achieve our aims to support the University Library

without you all and, although many of you are based in

Aberdeen and the North East, a substantial number give your

support from elsewhere in the UK and some from abroad. Many

Friends are never able to come to our meetings but we thank

those of you who do and hope that our newsletter helps everyone

to keep in touch and aware of what’s happening here.

A warm welcome as ever to new and established Friends and

we trust that we will have the pleasure of your company at one

of our forthcoming events, together with members of the

University of Aberdeen Alumnus Association whose meetings

we reciprocate.

Friends’ Membership Cards

Please bring your Membership Card with you when you use

the University Library if you have no other Library membership

identification. This will also mean quicker access when you

come to Friends events.

Remember that as Friends you are entitled to 10% off George

Washington Wilson items from Queen Mother Library

CopyShop.

Single copies of the postcards which the Friends funded,

depicting some of the Treasures held in Special Libraries and

Archives, are available from the CopyShop in Queen Mother

Library at 25p each.

FRIENDS’

ACTIVITIES

Dates for your Diary

With the go-ahead now given for the new

Library, Chris Banks, who joined as

University Librarian last October, will give

an illustrated talk to update us on this

exciting development for the whole

University community and the

opportunities the project will bring to the

University and to the North East.

Those of you who came to the Friends’ talk

earlier in the year and heard Chris speak

on her interests as Head of Music

Collections at the British Library will this

time hear of her plans as Librarian of the

University of Aberdeen for our building.

Please note the change of venue to the

MacRobert Building as QML Seminar

Room is unavailable while the new

Library building work is undertaken.

EDITORIAL

THE FRIENDS OF

ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Autumn / Winter Meeting

The MacRobert Building, Aberdeen University

581, King Street, Aberdeen

Room MR051 ie the smaller Lecture Theatre

on the Ground Floor

Wednesday 26 November 2008 at 7.30 pm

Aberdeen University Library: a new chapter

by

Chris Banks,

Librarian, the University of Aberdeen

All Welcome

Light Refreshments will be served

after the meeting

THE FRIENDS OF ABERDEEN

UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Spring Meeting

The Old Senate Room, King’s College,

Old Aberdeen

Monday 16 March at 7.30pm

The Ming Encyclopedia – Yongle Dadian

by

David Helliwell

Department of Oriental Books,

Bodleian Library, Oxford

All Welcome

Light Refreshments will be served after the

meeting

If you peruse the Marischal Museum Lecture programme closely you will see that our Spring meeting, in

association with the Aberdeen Chinese Studies Group, will be on an encyclopaedia from the Ming dynasty in

China (1368-1644). In Special Collections we have a section of this work, the Yongle Dadian, its importance

stemming from its method of compilation.

The Yongle Encyclopaedia, or Yongle Dadian, was commissioned by the Chinese Ming Dynasty Emperor

Yongle in 1403.

2000 scholars worked on the project, incorporating 8000 texts from the ancient to almost contemporary

times. They cover a vast array of subjects together with descriptions of unusual natural events. Completed in

1408, the work comprised over 11,000 manuscript volumes.

The vastness of the work meant that it could not be block printed and it is thought that only one other manuscript

was made. In 1557 a fire burnt down three palaces in the Forbidden City and the Encyclopaedia was narrowly

saved by Emperor Jiajing. He then ordered another copy to be transcribed.

The original copy of the work has since disappeared and the second copy was gradually dismembered and lost

from the 18th century onwards. The approximately 800 volumes remaining were burnt in a fire or looted or

rescued by European and American forces in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. Only about 400volumes

remain, in libraries and private collections around the world; the University of Aberdeen has a section of this

second copy.

Please note that this talk is on a Monday evening

(16th March) and will be in the Old Senate Room

in King’s College.

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The Ming Encyclopedia – Yongle Dadian

REPORTS ON FRIENDS’

ACTIVITIES

Northness:

Aberdeen’s northern connections

by Neil Curtis,

Senior Curator, Marischal Museum

Long fur coat with bone / ivory toggles made for Sir

William Macgregor by Mrs Lane, who was half Inuit,

at Port Burwell, Labrador

An excellent turnout came to hear Neil give his talk

to the Friends at our Autumn / Winter meeting on

15th May, after a speedy AGM ably chaired by Roy

Thomson.

Aberdeen has had many and varied connections with

the Baltic, Scandinavia, the North Atlantic and

Canada, including the Scots Colony in Danzig, the

Canadian fur trade and the whaling industry. Neil’s

talk explored some of these connections, focusing on

objects in the University’s museum collections,

together with, as he put it, some of his ‘holiday snaps’.

In his usual relaxed, easy and absorbing style Neil

treated us to a veritable feast of images of items the

University has acquired from past alumni and their

families, collected originally by donation or trade.

Those who visited Marischal Museum will be aware

what a stunning collection the University has and we

were most privileged to be given such a chance to see

artefacts in the Museum’s care, some of which are not

normally on display.

Throughout his talk Neil showed us intriguing and

surprising links - both material and symbolic - between

artefacts found in different parts of the Northern

climes, from Siberia, through Scandinavia, via

Scotland to Northern Canada and the Arctic. Thus for

example the famous ‘Amber Room’ in the Catherine

Palace at Tsarkeye Selo, near St Petersburg, celebrated

the high esteem in which amber has always been held

and links in with our own prehistoric amber bead from

the Tap o Noth. This was obviously a prized possession

and found in the Rhynie area which, from the many

archaeological discoveries there, we know was an

important area in earlier times.

We also saw the pairings, an important concept of the

time, between land and sea mammals and Neil had

images of unicorns and narwhal horns to show us.

Aberdeen and the North East were, of course, very

heavily involved in the whaling industry and the

decorated whalebones which he showed us, with their

Inuit carving and scrimshaw depictions, were

exquisite.

Lubeck was seen as the centre of the old ‘Baltic

Empire’ and there have always been active sailing and

trading links, including Aberdeen connections. The

Scots colony in Danzig (now Gdansk) nurtured Robert

Gordon and we saw silver communion beakers, made

there for King’s College Chapel. We also have a

portrait of Robert Low, the postmaster in Danzig and

a benefactor to Marischal College.

Similarly, John Rae, the most famous Scottish Arctic

explorer, has a memorial in St Magnus Cathedral in

Orkney. His particular skill was that he learned from

the Inuit people - instead of carrying meat there for

his food, he hunted when he got there. We have a 1906

tin-opener from the Discovery and, from the HMS

Alert, a tea cup and a tin-opener abandoned by an

Arctic expedition.

Items large and small, originally from Greenland, have

been discovered in the collections of the National

Museum of Denmark and some returned to the

National Museum of Greenland, part of the present

concept of ‘repatriation’ of artefacts. Neil has been

closely involved with this for some of our own items,

such as the headdress which has been returned to its

North American homeland.

p3

Neil noted the current interest in not simply acquiring

items from other Northern territories, as was the

emphasis in the past, but in the present preoccupation

of seeing how other people viewed us. Thus the

famous Inuit kayak which arrived on a North East

beach c.1720 (previously on permanent display in

Marischal Museum) with its Inuit paddler, later buried

in Belhelvie churchyard, can be seen as a lone kayaker

making his own voyage of discovery or as someone

brought back by a whaler as a curiosity.

Those of you within easy reach of Aberdeen had also

had the chance to see the display in Marischal Museum

during the early Summer which had a similar theme.

Material Histories, exploring the links between the

North-East of Scotland and the fur trade in Northern

Canada, was curated by Alison Brown and Nancy

Wachowich of the University’s Anthropology

Department. There were strong family links from this

part of Scotland with the Hudson’s Bay Company and

more donations have come to Marischal as a result of

this exhibition. We saw boots whose thread had been

made in Europe but sewn into the shoes by the local

people. And a sewing kit, such as we were shown,

could save your life in the perilous, icy conditions of

Canada and the Arctic by repairing a tear in fur

clothing.

Neil finished his talk by describing a surreal

experience when he visited Nuuk, capital of

Greenland, for a repatriation conference. The display

of traditional dancing turned out to be a demonstration

of what he recognised as an Eightsome Reel, part of

Greenland’s heritage as well as ours. We also learnt

that the keeper of the Headdress repatriated from

Marischal to the Kainai nation / Blood tribe in Canada

then ordered a jacket from Scott the Kiltmaker in

Aberdeen, which he now wears with the headdress as

part of the ceremonial dance. To them it is important

to show that the headdress spent seven decades in

Aberdeen and Neil was touched to know how well

they felt it had been cared for here.

In his Vote of Thanks to Neil at the end Roy Thomson

echoed our appreciation for this opportunity to see

again some of the riches of the Museum’s collections

and be reminded of its enormous range. Remembering

a visit by the Friends to the Museum and Conservation

Laboratory some years ago Roy expressed the hope

that we may have chance to repeat this at some point.

The Museum is, of course, out of bounds for an

indeterminate period, as is the rest of the Marischal

College site, but we know that Neil and his colleagues

will ensure that the precious material they have there

will be carefully protected while the City Council’s

building and refurbishment work continue.

Amongst the audience was the Professor in the new

Centre for Scandinavian Studies. Some of you will

remember that the University used to have a

Department of Scandinavian Studies, closed under

government policies of the ‘80s, when our Library

collection was transferred to Edinburgh University.

Staff in the new Centre are now hoping that some items

from Edinburgh’s collection can come to us to help to

establish a new post-graduate and research collection

here.

For those who were enthused by Neil’s talk but missed

the exhibition it’s available to see via Marischal

Museum’s website at: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/historic/

musuem

Christine Miller

My Lady Nevells Book,

by Chris Banks,

University Librarian

On 27th June the Friends were treated to a talk by

Chris Banks on My Ladye Nevells Booke, to mark

its first showing in Scotland, at Aberdeen Art Gallery

from May to August. She gave a fascinating talk to

the Friends on this outstanding Elizabethan music

manuscript.

My Ladye Nevells Booke is one of the most beautifully

written music manuscripts to survive from the late 16th

century. Chris, previously Head of Music Collections

at the British Library, successfully led the fundraising

to allow the acquisition of the work. This allowed her

to give a unique insight into the significance of this

book.

Her talk focused on the six areas which led to the

manuscript being accepted in lieu of inheritance tax,

together with additional funding from donors.

p4

Inuit

Boat

Although few people had seen the original before it

was allocated to the British Library, virtually all of

the 42 pieces for keyboard by William Byrd contained

in the book were known. It was the binding, dedicatee,

copyist, corrections, notations and printing which

made the work so important.

The manuscript is preserved in its original ornate

binding. Chris explained that this, incredibly elaborate

for the period, was carried out by the MacDurnan

Gospels Binder/Bateman workshop. John Bateman

was the Royal Bookbinder and the tools and blocks

used to decorate My Ladye Nevells Booke were also

used on a number of works in the British Library’s

Royal Music Library collection.

The lavish presentation suggests that the manuscript

was created for someone of importance. Elizabeth,

Lady Nevell, was the wife of Sir Henry Nevell of

Billingbere and subsequently of Sir William Periam.

As Lady Periam she was the dedicatee of Morley’s

First Booke of Cazonets to Two Voyces published in

1595. However by this time the book had passed from

the Nevell family to Elizabeth I, a second royal

connection.

The third royal connection can be found in the copyist.

The work is signed and dated by John Baldwin of

Windsor. Baldwin was a singer at St George’s Chapel,

Windsor and records show that he was also paid for

copying music. Baldwin was also an admirer of

Byrd’s work, writing of him:

Whose greate skill and knowledge

Doethe excelle all at this tyme

And farre to strage countries

Abroade his skill dothe shyne

Chris demonstrated how the manuscript captures the

development of notation. It looks backward in the

use of six staves and forward in the use of bar lines

and key signatures. The work also shows how

Baldwin’s confidence as a copyist was growing. Here

he places flats and sharps above rather than beside

the notes to avoid spoiling the patterns they create.

Despite Baldwin’s efforts My Ladye Nevells Booke

features a number of corrections in a different hand.

Chris explained that no music in Byrd’s hand survives

but that comparison with the numbers in documents

written by him suggests that the corrections may be

by Byrd himself.

Chris concluded her talk with a final royal connection.

Byrd, along with Tallis, was granted a patent for

printing music by Elizabeth I. This final royal

connection included a monopoly on the printing of

manuscript ruled papers. This was particularly

lucrative as, although music printing dates from 1473,

it was uneconomic to produce keyboard music while

the type was set by hand, each note and even

accidentals being a separate piece of type.

After the talk Friends were able to look through a

facsimile of the manuscript presented to Chris by her

colleagues at the British Library and explore the

history of music publishing over a glass of wine.

There is further information about My Layde Nevells

Booke at:

http://www.bl.uk/collections/

musicmy_ladye_nevells_booke.html.

Robin Armstrong Viner

Throughout May and June the Art Gallery put on a

series of talks and musical events around the exhibition

and at the last one in June Richard Turbet, a member

of the Library’s Cataloguing Unit in Special

Collections gave a fascinating talk on ‘Byrd & My

Ladye’ . He was followed by a short recital by Dr Roger

Williams, Master of Chapel and Ceremonial Music

and Organist to the University, on harpsichord, of six

pieces from My Ladye Nevells Book.

Aberdeen is not the only venue for events round My

Lady Nevells Book this year. A member of the British

Library staff also spoke about the manuscript in the

Wren Library of Lincoln Cathedral in September, the

talk followed by a harpsichord recital. Byrd was the

organist and master of the choristers at Lincoln

Cathedral from 1563-72 and is still very much

remembered there, with a plaque and an endowed

William Byrd Choristership.

p5

Thanks to you …

17th century music CD £2,000

Friends may remember that last year we gave a

donation to Professor Peter Davidson which enabled

the Music Department to produce a CD of music from

‘Georgian Aberdeen’. This was warmly and

appreciatively received wherever copies were

distributed – including those available for the Friends.

It also, as expected, made a most useful gift (which in

itself emphasises the riches of the University

collections) in the course of the campaign for the new

Library.

(If you would still like a free copy please contact: Miss

Sheona Farquhar, Membership Secretary,

s.c.farquhar@abdn.ac.uk or telephone her on 01224

273773.)

The Department approached us for help in producing

a further CD of 17th century music, including

unpublished and unperformed French madrigals and

keyboard music, together with material from the rare

songbooks published in Aberdeen in the later 17th

century.

The CD will again be played by the University

Musicians under the direction of Dr Roger Williams.

The costs envisaged were higher than with the

previous CD, because more resources will be used

and much more preparatory work done to make

performing versions from manuscript.

Principal’s Reception at

Chanonry Lodge,

Old Aberdeen, in June

Once again the Principal, Professor C Duncan Rice,

very kindly extended to us the hospitality of Chanonry

Lodge in June for a recruitment evening. The

occasion was thus primarily aimed at potential new

Friends and number restrictions meant that

regrettably only existing Friends bringing a potential

new member could be accommodated.

A model of the new Library building was available

to see in the Old Town House in Old Aberdeen,

immediately before the evening at Chanonry Lodge,

when the University Librarian, Chris Banks, was

there to explain our plans and answer your questions.

A lively and interested group of Friends and their

friends came along and after this chance to see exactly

what we envisage all shared the Librarian’s own

excitement for the future of the Library.

Later some of the guests braved the somewhat chilly

elements to wander round the Chanonry Lodge

garden – and impressive vegetable ‘patch’ - and

lovely flowers, shrubs and trees. How we all wished

for an afternoon borrowing the University gardeners!

Other Friends stayed indoors, where we all later

gathered to hear Roy Thomson, our Chairman,

explain and expand on the value and work of the

Friends organisation. The Principal echoed this, with

a request from both of them for support for the new

Library.

We also took this chance to have on display for

Friends to see two of the items for which we gave

funding to Special Libraries for their purchase: Sir

Philip Sidney’s The Counte of Pembrokes Arcadia

(1613) and Jean-Jacques Boissard’s De divinatione

(1615), together with a selection of the black and white

prints from the 1690s from the MacBean Stuart and

Jacobite Collection which are undergoing

conservation locally for their preservation, thanks to

a financial donation from the Friends..

A most enjoyable evening was had by all and our

membership roll will be increased as a result. Our

thanks are extended to the Principal, yet again, for

hosting the evening in his University residence.

PS – As we know that some Friends would have liked

to come in their own right, we very much hope that at

any future Reception we shall be able to extend the

invitation to you all, as a thank you for your support

over so many years.

p6

Perhaps the most important single item of 17th century

music in the University Library is the First book of

Madrigals of Arcadelt, published at Venice in 1561.

This is a substantial collection in itself and is rendered

yet more interesting by having on its endpapers full

pieces of manuscript music, both vocal and keyboard.

The vocal items are two early 17th century madrigals

in praise of the city of Nîmes, apparently a product of

the minority protestant culture of the Mediterranean;

the name of the composer would appear to be de

Flores. The keyboard music also looked to be of real

interest and appeared at a preliminary survey to be

late 17th century French.

This is an item of real interest and both the printed

and manuscript music seems worthy of performance.

Obviously there would be a considerable amount of

cachet and interest for a first recording of completely

unknown music of such quality and antiquity.

The Library also holds other relatively-rare 17th

century printed music: a published book of Madrigals

by Michael East, Madrigals of 3, 4 and 5 parts

(London 1604); settings of Buchanan’s Latin

paraphrases on the psalms (MN.11.256) and a London

publication of the 1580s, William Hunnis, Seven Sobs

of a Sorrowful Soul for Sin which might well yield

more material for the CD.

We have also music by the Aberdeen professional

composer of the 17th century, Andrew Melville (whose

commonplace book survives as AUL MS 28, itself

containing an unperformed setting of the Nunc

Dimitis. There is also music by him in the collection

of the airs of 17th century Scotland, sophisticated

composed music in many cases printed by Alexander

Forbes. This Songs and Fancies is an attractive

collection. Only the Cantus part was published, but

there are modern editions of some of the material in

performable form, much of it is little known. Amongst

the supplements to the 2nd edition is a very curious

festival piece for three voices, The Pleugh Sang, a

plough-blessing a good deal more sophisticated and

complex than it appears at first sight. Amongst the

songs in Songs and Fancies Professor Davidson has

also identified a hitherto-unrecognised poem by the

17th century Scottish hero, the Marquis of Montrose.

Taken altogether, the CD will be an important

contribution to scholarship, making very rare music,

unperformed for three hundred years, available for

the first time. It would give pleasure to the Friends

and to the wider community of University alumni and

well-wishers and, again, it would act as an ambassador

for the riches of our collections and as a pleasant

reminder of the length and sophistication of the

musical traditions of Aberdeen. In addition to being

able to use the CD for such promotional purposes for

the University, it is envisaged that it will be on sale,

as with the earlier CD, and, as before, that the Friends

would again receive a copy free.

Our contribution was to be used for transcriptions,

editions, performance and recording and the

production of CDs.

Professor Patrick Copland:

Family Letters, 1790-1837

£1,275 + VAT

By courtesy of Patrick A Copland, descendant of

Professor Copland,

from a painting in his possession by

John Moir in 1817

Professor Patrick Copland (1748 -1822) was one of

the leading scientific figures in late 18th and early

19th century Aberdeen and is a natural philosopher of

national repute, whose association with Marischal

College spanned 60 years. His correspondence sheds

light on his domestic and private business life, an

aspect little covered in our collection previously.

Copland was both Professor of Mathematics and of

Natural Philosophy at Marischal College from 1775

until his death in 1822. He did much to popularise

scientific subjects and contributed greatly to the

modernisation of the science syllabus in Marischal

College. He is particularly noted for introducing

demonstration apparatus in the teaching of natural

philosophy.

p7

The letters are to, from and between the family and

friends of Patrick Copland; including his wife

Elizabeth, three sons Alexander, John and Charles,

daughter Mary and other related family and friends,

including Alexander Gordon, fourth Duke of Gordon.

They provide insights into the life of a privileged,

educated family in early 19th century Aberdeen and

contain many references to the work of Copland as

he developed his teaching methods and apparatus.

The correspondence with the Duke of Gordon

highlights the real friendship between the two men

and how Copland enjoyed the patronage that came

from this shared interest in science.

Special Libraries & Archives already hold papers

relating to Patrick Copland and the University

Museum collections also have many of his

demonstration apparatus.

Anyone interested in learning more about Copland

and his extraordinary career can see the ‘Collection

Highlight’ by Siobhan Convery on the Department

website:

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/historic/

Collection_highlight_autumn07.shtml:

The cost of purchasing these letters was shared with

the Alumni Association and the Department.

Andrew MacGregor

Deputy Archivist

Library and Historic Collections

Funding from the Friends has helped with this purchase

of a copy of the fine 17th century catalogue of the

museum assembled at the Collegio Romano by the

polymath Athanasius Kircher, with text by Giorgio de

Sepibus. The finely-illustrated work is in good condition

and complete with all of its engravings, including the

folding plates, except that illustrating the Pamphilian

obselisk, which is often missing. There is no copy of

this book in Scotland outside Edinburgh.

There were particular reasons for us wanting to purchase

the work, all of which arise from the antiquity of our

library collections (which include other significant early

museum books) and the way in which they have been

inextricably related, for well over two hundred years, to

a growing museum collection. We believe the collection

which began in the library of King’s College, Aberdeen

in the mid-18th century to constitute the oldest surviving

Museum in Scotland. It is also, therefore, amongst the

oldest surviving University museums in the English-

speaking world.

The manuscript collections for the history of Old

Aberdeen which accrued through the 18th century around

the collectanea of Thomas Orem, describe and illustrate

the museum collections in King’s College Library –

‘several missals, ancient and foreign arms, and sundry

natural curiosities.’ There is also a record as early as

1751 of the donation of ethnographic items by Patrick

Wilson, Esq. Display cases were constructed in 1771,

and, in the following decade, a formal museum grew

p8

Contributions also came from the National

Acquisitions Fund (Edinburgh): £1,450

and the Friends of National Libraries: £1,500

Athanasius Kircher.

Romani Colegii Societatis Jesu Musaeum

celeberrimum, cuius magnum antiquariae rei,

statuarum imaginum, picturarumque partem ex

legato Alphonsi Donini, S.P.Q.R. a secretis,

munifica liberalitate relictum, P. Athanasius

Kircherus Soc. Jesu, novis & raris inventis

locupletatum, compluriumque principum

curiosis donariis magno rerum apparatu

instruxit…

Amsterdam: ‘Ex Officina Janssonio-Waesbergiana’,

1678. £1,500

under the guidance of Professor William Ogilvy, with

natural history specimens, shells and minerals.

By the end of the 18th century, the Statistical Account

reported museums at both of the Colleges which now

make up the modern University of Aberdeen: at King’s

the natural history museum had been joined by ‘a

collection, under the name of a Museum of Antiquities,

containing Greek and Roman coins, casts in sulphur

from ancient gems, and some of the more valuable books

of engravings, relative to this subject.’ Many of the

volumes from this ‘paper museum’, including the

engraved publication of another great Roman Museum,

the Pio-Clementino, can be identified in our Library

collections to this day.

At Marsichal College, from the 1780s, Professor Patrick

Copeland had been gathering scientific and astronomical

equipment. Here there is a close link with the machines

and apparatus illustrated in the Musaeum celeberrimum,

as a good proportion of Copeland’s material survives in

the Aberdeen collections today. At Marischal also there

was ‘a considerable number and variety of natural and

artificial curiosities.’ Among other articles, are ‘an

Egyptian mummy; a beautiful antique statue of

Esculapius; the staff of office belonging to the Earls

Marischal of Scotland and a set of casts of ancient gems

selected from Tassie’s vast collection.’ This was

supplemented by fine engraved museum books, most

notably Regenfuss’s volume of the shells in the Royal

Collection of Denmark, which is still in our Library.

A final strand in Kircher’s volume which relates closely

to our collections is its emphasis on Egyptian artefacts

in Rome, especially obelisks. We hold James Playfair’s

designs for the remarkable neo-classical Cairness

House, built for kinsmen of Lord Byron. This house

has a central room in the Egyptian taste, designed long

before Denon’s publication of the antiquities of Egypt,

which most likely draws its decorative ‘hieroglyphics’

from Kircher.

The use which the University of Aberdeen can

potentially make of this book would go far beyond its

great utility for the research of our specialist scholars

of the history of museums and of the baroque arts and

sciences. A wunderkammer exhibition and related

educational events are already planned for the near

future, including the reconstruction of the university’s

early collections displayed as an early-modern museum.

We are also planning widespread educational activities

focused on a modern version of a ‘Hainhofer’ museum

cabinet. In all of these contexts, the volume of the

Musaeum Celeberrimum and reproductions of its

engravings, would be exhibited and shared with the

wider community.

p9

Thank you – Mike and Caroline Craig

This issue of the Friends’ News marks the end of an era.

For the last 20 years and more the design work in

translating my text copy to the finished newsletter which

comes to you has been in the capable and very professional

hands of the Library’s Reprographic Unit.

This Unit is headed by Mike Craig, who took responsibility

for the design work in the early years, but since then the

creative spark behind it all has been Caroline Craig. Both

are now leaving the Library / University.

These 20 years have seen the change from basic Mac

desktop publishing for the text, to a PC and Pagemaker

software. Graphics and photographs gradually appeared,

colour was introduced – now on every page – and the

look of the newsletter has therefore improved dramatically

over the decades.

Throughout the preparation of text for each issue Mike

and Caroline have shown an enduring patience with my

late items, requests for changes and timetable deadlines.

They have always been most helpful and prepared to put

themselves out to ensure a smooth production schedule.

Many thanks indeed to them both, for advice and input at

every stage. It has been a pleasure to work with them and

I shall miss their ideas, dedication and professionalism.

We give them our very best wishes for the future.

What will we do without them?!

———————

Mike has been with the University Library for 41 years

and many of you will be aware how much hard work he

has put into expanding the old ‘Photographic Unit’ and in

particular his enormous enthusiasm and vision in

developing and publicising the George Washington Wilson

Collection of Victorian plate glass negatives, the collection

now accessible digitally. Friends have a 10% discount on

GWW items from Queen Mother Library CopyShop.

Caroline has been with us for 29 years and her artistic

work is available in the very attractive range of prints,

Kircher’s book is one which will greatly enrich our

Library and the museum collections which have been

associated with it for over two centuries.

Dr Iain Beavan

Keeper of Rare Books

cards and postcards

using photographic

images of Old Aberdeen

and around, also

available from the

CopyShop.

Christine Miller

to the University’s new Rector,

Stephen Robertson, MBE

Anyone who’s been in the North East for any length

of time at all will know that Steve Robertson is one

third of the comedy trio, Scotland the What?,

honoured by having the Freedom of the City of

Aberdeen bestowed on them in His Majesty’s Theatre

earlier this year. The three, including also Buff Hardie

and George Donald, met as students at Aberdeen

University and made their debut in 1969 at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe,with their final

performance at His Majesty’s in 1995. They were

awarded honorary degrees from their alma mater in

1994 and were all made MBEs in 1995.

On the student scene Steve Robertson was an active

member of the student body, appearing in the Student

Show for five years and elected President of the Union

Management Committee in 1956/57. He also

represented Aberdeen University at squash.

What many of you may not know is that Steve is also

a Life Member of the Friends of the Library – but

declined the Principal’s invitation at the Chanonry

Lodge Reception to perform a sketch for us on that

occasion.

And, keeping it all in the Friends’ family, our

congratulations should also go to Graham Hunter,

our Honorary Treasurer, whom the new Rector chose

as his Rector’s Assessor.

And Congratulations also to Tom Hall, erstwhile

Deputy and then Acting Librarian here (1976-88).

Those of you who were Friends in 2000 may remember

that we reported then that Tom had received the

prestigious George Waterston Memorial Award from the

National Trust, presented annually to someone who has

worked voluntarily and with distinction for the Trust

for a number of years.

Tom received the award for his longstanding work on

the centuries old family libraries at the Trust’s properties

at Drum Castle and Haddo House.

In conjunction with the exhibition to celebrate 500 years

of the printed word in Scotland, at the Trust’s

headquarters in Edinburgh, Tom was one of the experts

in printing, books and libraries hosting a series of

lectures during the exhibition.

He gave a talk there in October entitled, Revealing

hidden treasure: the work of a volunteer librarian.

Marischal Museum Lectures –

change of venue

Enclosed with this issue of News you should find the

brochure for the current session of Marischal Museum

Lectures.

Please note that with the start of the City Council’s

preparations to move into Marischal College as its new

corporate headquarters, Marischal is no longer

available.

Instead the lectures are being held in:

MacRobert Building - 581, King Street

Centre for Professional Development Suite on the

Ground Floor

Those of you who have been in Aberdeen any length

of time will be more familiar with this as the ‘School

of Education’ or, before that, the School / College of

Agriculture building.

Parking is available on the site.

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Congratulations …

Charles Murray’s

Hamewith

Earlier in the Summer the University’s Elphinstone

Institute celebrated the publication of the first new

edition of Charles Murray’s collected poems since

1979.

Murray, the North East’s best-known and probably

best-loved poet, was born in Alford in 1864 and died

in Banchory in 1941. At one time he was the most

popular poet in the country and was a key figure in

the development of Scots poetry. His verse drew

heavily on his native Donside Doric and enthusiasm

for it spread across Scotland and to Lowland Scots in

England and the Colonies.

He first had his poems published in 1893. The new

edition, edited by Dr Colin Milton, previously of the

University’s English Department and now the

Institute’s Honorary Associate Director, reprints the

Scots poems from Murray’s first ‘suppressed’ volume,

A Handful of Heather, not included in any later

collection.

The Elphinstone Institue’s evening included a

programme of recitations and traditional music on the

whistle and fiddle.

Colin Milton, editor,

Hamewith – the collected poems of Charles Murray

Aberdeen, The Elphinstone Institute, 2008.

For those of you interested in pursuing Murray’s work

the Queen Mother Library has lending copies of his

poems on Floor 3 at 821.9 Murr and there are further

copies in the Local Collection in King’s College.

If only Aberdeen couldemulate Oxford!

Julian Blackwell, President of Blackwell’s

Bookshops, which has branches in Aberdeen, of

course, has donated £5m towards the redevelopment

of the New Bodleian Library in Oxford city centre.

This is the largest single cash donation ever made to

a university library in the UK and launches the

fundraising campaign for the redevelopment of the

new library at Oxford University into a major research

and culture centre.

It all sounds a little like Aberdeen’s hopes …

Links with the University ofAberdeen Alumnus Association

Many of you will know of the University of Aberdeen

Alumnus Association, for Aberdeen graduates, and we

now have closer ties with the Association. We advertise

events reciprocally which should help to swell

numbers and provide added attractions for each group.

Recently the Alumnus Association has been donating

any profits from their local events programme to the

Special Collections and Archives Department, to

support the new library fund and in appreciation of

the events organised by Dr Iain Beavan and Professor

Peter Davidson. Hoped for matching funding will

double the amount of the donation.

Alumnus events over the Summer have included a

meal and visit to the Community theatre at Aboyne

preceded by a meal, a lecture on the wildlife and

landscape of St Kilda, its the people and their

evacuation, by Donald Paterson, and an inside view

of the security involved in Gleneagles G8 Summit in

2005. The Alumnus AGM is on 17th November and

on 27th Siobhan Convery, Archivist in the Library’s

Special Collections, is to speak on the University’s

extensive archives. Those of you who missed her talk

to the Friends the other year may consider joining the

Alumni Association to hear Siobhan, and attend any

of the other events.

If you are interested in joining please contact the

Secretary:

Mrs Gail Murdoch, c/o University of Aberdeen tel:

01224 594536 alumnusassociation@abdn.ac.uk

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The Friends of Aberdeen University Library

Friends of Aberdeen

University Library

Executive Committee

QML, Taylor and the Medical Library

FFFFFriririririendsendsendsendsends Web site

Monday - Saturday 9.00 am - 10.00 pm

(all close at 8.00pm on Fridays)

Sunday 11.00 am - 10.00 pm (QML)

1.00pm - 10.00pm (Taylor and Medical)

Special Libraries

Monday - Friday 9.30 am - 4.30 pm

produced by QML Reprographics Unit

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/friends/

President

Mr Jack Webster

Chair

Mr Roy H Thomson

Honorary Treasurer

Mr Graham Hunter

Honorary Secretary

Robin Armstrong Viner

Honorary

Membership Secretary

Miss Sheona C Farquhar

Editor of News

Christine Miller

Members

Mrs Chris Banks

University Librarian

Professor Chris GaneVice-Principal

(Library and Information Services)

Professor Michael C Meston

Professor Bill Nicolaisen

Professor Derek Ogston

Miss Eilidh M Scobbie

Mrs Helen F Stevenson

The Friends Executive Committee

– Hello and Goodbye

It is with much regret that we have accepted Professor Bill

Nicolaisen’s resignation from the Committee on health

grounds

Bill has been a stalwart Member for many years and

contributed greatly to our meetings with his sound thinking

and experience, together with his goodwill towards the

Library and the academic literary environment.

We shall miss his perceptive comments and humour and trust

that we shall still continue to see him at Friends events. Thank

you, Bill.

But young blood has joined us in the person of Robin

Armstrong Viner, who joined the Library and Historic

Collections staff as Cataloguing Manager earlier in the year,

after 8 years with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors

in London.

Robin brings enthusiasm and a new perspective to the

Committee and you’ll see that we have already set him to

work – he volunteered to report on Chris Banks’ talk to the

Friends on My Ladye Nevells Booke. In addition to this he

has taken on the post of Honorary Secretary, leaving Christine

Miller to revert to her position as Editor of the Friends’ News.

Welcome, Robin.